Dolphus Raymond was put into the story by Harper Lee to show that Maycomb, collectively, is racist and has bad judgment of the people who live there. Maycomb is a community where people who are not successful are seen nearly as low as black people. Mr. Raymond is a drunk whose life was fine until his wife shot herself.

Jem then explains to Scout and Dill that Dolphus Raymond is an alcoholic, who prefers being around black people and has several biracial children. When Dill comments that Dolphus Raymond does not look like trash, Jem explains to him that Dolphus comes from a wealthy family and owns nearly half of the riverbank.

What sort of person is Dolphus Raymond? He is considered the town drunk and doesn’t have a good reputation because of his association with the black community.

Blacks must sit up in the balcony in a section labeled “Colored.” There are no seats left when Scout, Jem, and Dill make their way into the courthouse.

There is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left. And Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses, his right. I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state.

The law that Mayella breaks is the law against perjury. She gets up on the stand and tells a lie. The social code that she breaks is the code against having black men and white women in contact with one another.

Mayella is different from her father in the fact that she attempts to rise above her situation by remaining clean and trying to bring beauty to her home with the flowers. She is similar to him in that she lies on the stand and attempts to manipulate the jury. What might be the reason for Mayella’s crying in the court?

Hover for more information. In Chapter 20 of To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella’s offense is that she has tempted a black man by kissing him. She tried to hide that offense by saying Tom Robinson attacked her.

Mayella broke the social code by inviting a black man into her home and coming on to him. Tom Robinson knew it was wrong on many levels and so did she. Bob Ewell could not have it out in the town that his daughter had associated with a black man, so he filed rape charges on Tom.

Aunt Alexandra does not approve of Scout because Scout does not fit her ideal of how a little Southern girl should act if she is to grow up to be a proper Southern lady. Alexandra is unhappy, for example, that Scout wears pants and runs around like a tomboy.

Atticus becomes emotional and cries after reflecting on the African American community’s appreciation. Despite the fact that he lost a difficult case, they understand the courage it took for him to defend a black man against a prejudiced jury. Atticus cries after the loss of Tom Robinson’s court case.

Equality. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”(30). This famous quote from To Kill A Mockingbird is said by Atticus a father in the small town of Maycomb of two kids: they are named Jem and Scout.

Scout says that “‘Do you really think so? ‘ . . . was Atticus’ dangerous question” because he delighted in helping people see a situation in a new light. Atticus uses this approach not only with his children, but with all of Maycomb.

As soon as Atticus finishes, Calpurnia comes into the courtroom.

He had a fatal heart attack on Palm Sunday of 1962. After her father died, Lee gave his pocket watch to Gregory Peck, who by then was starring in an adaptation of her novel.

What makes Mayella think Atticus is “mocking” her? Because when he calls her “ma’am” and “Miss Mayella.” Mayella tells Judge Taylor that Atticus is mocking her when he has actually addressed her in terms of politeness. She is not used to being treated with respect or dignity and doesn’t like it.

Mr. Ewell is not shaken from his story, but Atticus carefully plants the seed that Mr. Ewell himself could’ve beaten Mayella.

Mayella Ewell lies on the witness stand because she is afraid of her father, Bob Ewell, and because she is humiliated by her own attraction to Tom Robinson. She tells the jury that Tom beat and raped her when, in fact, it was her father who beat her when he saw her hugging and kissing an African American.

Dill cries because he was so horrified at the treatment of Tom Robinson at the hands of Mr. Gilmer. Mr. Gilmer was in the middle of Tom’s cross-examination, and Scout had to take Dill outside because his sobs were a distraction to the rest of the court.

Dill starts to cry in the courtroom in To Kill a Mockingbird because he is disgusted and upset with the way Mr. Gilmer blatantly disrespects Tom Robinson during his cross-examination. Outside of the courtroom, Dill tells Scout that the way Mr. Gilmer was “talking so hateful” to Tom made him sick.

The real reason that Mrs. Dubose wanted Jem to read to her is that she wanted to die free and clear of the morphine she’d been taking to ease her pain. The reading distracted her and she did die without the addiction to morphine that she’d had.

Dubose is a great lady because she is strong-willed and proud, and lives life on her own terms. Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is the neighbor whose house is two doors to the north (Ch.

Mrs. Dubose represents the way most of the town feels about the trial. She is an old woman who continuously yells at Jem and Scout as they pass by her house. The children are afraid of her because of the yelling and they are afraid that she might actually call to them.

Dubose is a morphine addict who had vowed to go clean before she died, and enlisted Jem and Scout (without their knowledge) to keep her off the stuff for longer and longer periods of time.